WHAT IS THE BLACK MAGIC OF WITCH DOCTORS?

BLACK MAGIC -

In the recent times, witches and magic have become very popular due to the books of Harry Potter
. The phenomenon of magic and witch doctors is a very old one. In primitive societies, people had little control over supernatural forces, diseases, or natural calamities, etc. due to limited knowledge and lack of a scientific temper. They were afraid of natural elements because they could not control them. Occultism and mysticism dominated their lives due to ignorance.

The gradual development of science empowered men to deal with events and occurrences that were beyond their control earlier. In the primitive era, people were made to believe in them to resolve their problems. These practices gave rise to a class of people known as witch doctors, black magicians, tantriks, etc. who claimed to have mystical powers to control and influence the supernatural forces. Even today are found in certain primitive societies and villages. Among the practitioners of mysticism, the witch doctor was considered to be an important community member in a tribe. He was able to predict the weather, spot out a thief or a killer. He could treat illness by his magical powers and communicate with the dead.

Witch doctors were supposedly armed with black magic. He used it to frighten people with his power and make them follow his wishes. If he wished he could bring a curse on others, could make the crops fail, cause illness to children, or make people die. He used a variety of methods to curse people to death. Sometimes he made a small figure of the man and stuck pins in it or wound the rope around it. At times, he would get some man's hair or nail cuttings and bury them. As they decayed, the man died a slow death. People believed that he could extract blood and organs with his supernatural powers.

Witch doctors often used herbs and plants for curing illness and purifying water for curing the infection. Sometimes he would sprinkle water on a magic stone. He would chant magical songs, prayers, and dance in a weird manner to impress people. He would even dress up in bright-colored clothes and wear masks or paint his face. Some witch doctors wore hides of the animals. He hypnotized people to make them believe that he was responsible for their good luck. However, most witch doctors are quacks, they have no real power. Unfortunately, many innocent people are still victimized because of their belief in witchcraft.

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WHO WAS MOZART?

MOZART -

Mozart is one of the greatest musicians ever born in the world. Whenever the word music is mentioned, his name is the first to come up. Music has been the main component of our culture since times immemorial. Generation after generation, people have enjoyed and experienced different forms and varieties of music. As a result, every period of history has produced its own breed of musicians, but only a few have been able to make a lasting impact in the minds and hearts of people. Mozart was one such product of the 18th century who went on to become one of the most brilliant composers in the history of music. His great genius was his ability to compose every form of music that included operas, choral, orchestral, and chamber music.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, Austria in 1756. His father was a musician at the court of the Archbishop and his sister was also a talented musician. Even as a very young child, Mozart could play violin and harpsichord so well that his father took him on a tour to Europe to play before the Royalty. The trio consisting of Mozart, his father, and sister, were acclaimed wherever they performed. The young Mozart began to compose at the young age of 5. Later he studied music in Italy. Did you know that Mozart composed the poem "'Twinkle, twinkle, little star" when he was just 5 and it is longer than the four lines most of us know?

During his brief life of 35 years, Mozart was able to usher in a change in the trend of music that was prevalent during that time. The symphonies, sonatas and other instrumental works created by him were full of emotional energy. In the pre-Mozart era, music mostly lacked any kind of emotional expression. He is, generally, considered as a classical composer because his symphonies, concerts, and sonatas follow the rules of the musical forms of the classical period. What is not classical about some of Mozart's music is his intense personal touch. Some of his finest compositions sound as if he was pouring his heart out in his music.

Mozart composed some of the finest operas that include The Marriage of Figaro, Don Giovanni, The Magic Flute and Cosi Fantulte. He was one of those 18th-century musicians who is bracketed with Beethoven and Hayden for evolving and perfecting the orchestral music. His operas reflected every change of mood and twist of plot. The characters were presented as real people rather than theatrical puppets.

Although Mozart captured great attention as a child artist, his popularity waned with his growing age. As a result, he had to earn his living as a humble musician. He spent a greater part of his life in poverty and his health suffered consequently. He died very suddenly after a short illness. He died in 1791 at the young age of 35. The great composer died so poorly that only the gravedigger attended his funeral.

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WHO WAS COLUMBUS?

COLUMBUS -

A man has always had a burning desire to explore the world around him. This natural urge within him to discover and see what lies beyond his limited horizon has always led him to explore outside his own land. The explorers of ancient times often undertook perilous journeys across the seas as well as by land for trading, conquest and other purposes.

But events were somewhat different in the 14th and 15th centuries. It was the period of Renaissance when after a long gap, people again became interested in every aspect of art, science, architecture, and literature. New ideas and outlooks were emerging in all fields and the field of exploration was no exception. New lands and sea-routes were being discovered by European explorers. Columbus, a very brave and determined seaman, probably has earned the highest recognition in the history of exploration for his adventures. The most famous among his voyages was the one when he discovered the first sea-route to America, thereby opening it to the rest of the world.

Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was a gifted voyager who had a dream to discover the sea-route to Indies (Asia) by sailing westwards. Sailors of those days used to sail east to reach China, Japan, and India and managed to bring plenty of gold, spices, and treasure. Columbus was convinced that Earth was not flat but round and thought he could reach Indies quicker by sailing west as this could be the shortest route. To translate his ideas into action, he approached the kings of Portugal and England for help who turned him down. Finally, Queen Isabella of Spain agreed to sponsor his voyage and provided him with ships, manpower, and money, required for the voyage.

Columbus sailed with 90 men in three small ships - Santa Maria, Nina, and Pinta. After sailing for three weeks without the sight of any land, his crews became restive, afraid and rebellious. Finally, on October 12, 1492, they reached an island in America which Columbus named as San Salvador which was an island in the Bahamas. He was convinced that it was the Indies and he was very near Japan. When he sailed around one island to another, he saw the inhabitants of those islands whom he thought were 'Indians'. That is why they are still called American Indians and the islands he first reached are called the West Indies. During the journey, the Santa Maria was wrecked off one island which he named Hispaniola. He left 40 of his men there to form a colony and then returned to Spain where he was given a hero's welcome.

Consequently, Columbus made another voyage and arrived at Hispaniola where he found that all 40 men he left had been murdered. This time ha also visited Jamaica. Some fellow sailors complained about his wild behavior and harsh rule as a viceroy. But he was permitted a third expedition in 1498 and this time he landed on Trinidad and also stepped on the mainland America.

Though Columbus excelled as an explorer yet he failed as a governor. When complaints about his misrule were made against him and his brother, he was replaced by a new governor who promptly arrested him and sent him back to Spain. He was later pardoned and given an opportunity to make one more voyage. This time he was sure that he had reached near the mouth of the Ganges in India. He returned to Spain as a sick man, died in poverty still with the belief that he had in fact reached 'Indies'.

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WHO WAS PICASSO?

PICASSO -

Every art lover in the world has heard of the name Picasso. The famous Spanish painter and sculptor, Pablo Picasso, holds the honor of being one of the greatest and the most celebrated and the most celebrated artist of the 20th century as well as one of the most productive artists in the world history. During his 78 years of continuous artistic work, Pablo Picasso produced 13,500 paintings, 1,00,000 prints and engravings, 34,000 book illustrations, and 300 pieces of sculpture. These works are valued at over $690,000,000.

Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain, on October 25, 1881. His father was an art teacher in Malaga. It is said that Picasso as a child had already learned drawing before he could speak. At the age of 14, he could cover the lessons from an art school on a day that most people needed a month to take. By the age of 16, he had passed all the tests that Spain's art schools could offer. In 1904, he settled down in Paris and married Fernande Olive. He became famous only after his marriage.

Picasso disliked paintings that looked like photographs and admired the curving shapes of African sculpture. During the period between 1899 and 1905, he dealt with subjects like cabarets, race-courses, prostitutes, and drunkards. Later, however, he turned to the varied facets of life. After 1925, Picasso began to produce emotionally charged pictorial formulations of bodies and heads. In 1947, he took to pottery in a factory, and in 1948, he exhibited 150 pieces of painted pottery. Picasso may very well be called the 'Father of the modern art'. After the age of 85, till he was 90, he produced mythological scenes. He became more deeply involved with politics during the Spanish civil war. One of the most famous paintings of Picasso is 'Guernico', which shows the destruction of a Spanish town. His work was suppressed by the Nazis during the Second World War.

Picasso died in France on April 8, 1973.

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WHO WAS PLATO?

PLATO -

Plato was a great philosopher of ancient Greece whose writings and teachings still carry great importance. The works of this great thinker are read all over the world even now. He was a student of a Socrates and teacher of Aristotle. In fact, the ideas of Socrates were translated into writing by his great disciple Plato. He is also credited with implanting the seeds of Aristotle's thought and intellect.

Plato was born in 427 B.C. in Athens. He belonged to a wealthy aristocratic family and joined Socrates as his pupil at the age of 20. When Socrates was poisoned to death in 399 B.C., Plato left Athens in disgust and spent a few years traveling. But he returned soon to establish his famous Academy in Athens in 388 B.C. which is considered as the first university in the world.

Plato's teaching covered a wide range of subjects. But his views and thoughts on education, justice, ideal state, and ideal rulers are still hotly debated and discussed among the intellectuals. For him, 'philosophy' was the supreme thing and no learning is complete without it. He advocated the rule of philosophers, he said, "Either philosophers should be kings or kings should be philosophers". Justice for him was the performance of one's duties. His model code for ideal rulers suggested that rulers should neither get married nor own property. He said that there is an ideal world beyond the real world which can be experienced only in one's mind and man should always strive to bring the real world closer to the ideal one.

There is another interesting aspect of Plato's method of teaching. He did not permit his lectures at the Academy to be circulated in written form as he was afraid that readers outside the Academy might not understand his ideas correctly. His logic was that a man gets the opportunity to defend himself in a debate but can't do so in his writings. So when he started writing his ideas, he did so in the form of dialogues that provided the mention of different viewpoints along with his own.

Among his books, the most famous is The Republic which is a political dialogue providing
the requirements for an ideal state. This great philosopher died in Athens at the age of 80.

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WHO WAS CHARLES DARWIN?

CHARLES DARWIN -

For a long time, people believed that each form of life on the Earth appeared separately and that these forms of life have remained unchanged. Charles Darwin was the first scientist who condemned this belief and laid the foundation of the modern theory of evolution. According to his theory, evolution is the process by which all living things on Earth today descended from common ancestors that lived millions of years ago. All plants and animals have evolved in an orderly way and continue to change even now.

Charles Darwin was born in 1809. He received his education at Edinburgh University. He was fascinated by biology since his early days. When he was only 22, he got an opportunity to go around the world on a voyage, on the Beagle ship of England. The voyage lasted for 5 years and during this period Darwin saw many new countries and got the opportunity to study different creatures. It was on this voyage that Darwin formed many ideas on evolution and adaptation. After his return to England, Darwin received a letter from the naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace, who had formed a similar conclusion about evolution. A joint paper by Darwin and Wallace was read in 1858. Darwin then wrote an account of his voyage and published it in the form of a book. The title of the book was The Origin of Species by Natural selection. Its first edition was published in 1859. Setting a record, it was sold out on the very first day it appeared in the market. Darwin spent more than 20 years studying evolution.

The Origin of Species attempted to prove on the basis of Darwin's study that the living creatures had acquired their present shape and form after generations of evolution, and all of them had a common ancestry. In addition to this, his theory of natural selection explains that in the struggle for life only the fittest creature survives. Each organism differs slightly from its predecessor and in the course of time, they acquired their present form. The book caused an uproar when it was the first published.  Today, Darwin's theories are widely accepted. Darwin devoted his entire life to the study of complex problems of biological science. He avoided entering the controversies surrounding his work and left it to others to debate the supposed consequences of 'Darwinism'. The great naturalist died in 1882.

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HOW DOES MICROPHONE WORK?

MICROPHONE -

Radio and television stations make use of microphones. They are also used in public address systems and in motion pictures and phonograph records. The mouthpiece of a telephone is the simple type of microphone. Let us see what exactly a microphone is.

A microphone is a device which converts sound waves into electrical signals. These signals can then be broadcast through the air or sent over to distant points, where they can again be converted back into sound.

Microphones can be divided into two groups depending upon how they respond to sound waves. These are - the pressure type and the velocity type. The pressure type microphones contain a thin metal plate called a diaphragm. This is stretch like a drumhead inside a rigid frame. The diaphragm is a part of the electrical circuit. When the sound waves strike the diaphragm, it starts vibrations at the rate a same as the sound waves. These vibrations produce corresponding electric signals by changing the electric current that flows through the circuit.

The pressure microphones are of several types, such as a condenser microphone, a moving coil or a dynamic microphone, the crystal microphone and the carbon microphone. In the condenser microphone, the vibrating diaphragm changes the capacitance of a condenser. A moving coil microphone consists of a coil of wire attached to the diaphragm. As the diaphragm vibrates in response to the sound., the coil slides up and down the centerpiece of an M-shaped permanent magnet. The coil thus cuts through the magnetic lines of force which induce a fluctuating voltage in it. This fluctuating voltage represents the variations in sound pressure.

Crystal microphones make use of the piezoelectric effect. Whenever certain crystals, such as quartz, are bent or twisted, they generate an electric voltage. Such crystals are called piezoelectric crystals. In a crystal microphone, a piezoelectric crystal is firmly clamped at one end and attached at the other to a flexible diaphragm. When someone speaks before it, the sound waves make the diaphragm vibrate. Due to this, a pressure acts on the crystal, and as a result, an oscillating voltage is produced. This is picked up by the heads attached to the crystal surface. This is how sound waves are converted into electric signals and transmitted. A carbon microphone works like a telephone transmitter. In this, carbon granules vary the current to create a signal. Ribbon microphones have a metal ribbon instead of coils.

The velocity microphone has a light ribbon of aluminum foil loosely held in a strong magnetic field. The sound waves vibrate the ribbon. The movement of the ribbon in the magnetic field induces a current along its length which is picked up by the connecting leads. Several people including the American inventor Thomas Alva Edison have been credited with the invention of the microphone. The first practical microphone, however, was invented in 1878 by David Edward Hughes of United States. Other inventors who have contributed to the invention of the microphone are Emile Berliner, Philip Reis, Franus Blake and Henry Hunnings.

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